JP Morgan has launched it first indices for depositary receipts which highlight investors interest in emerging markets.

Claudine Cardillo-Rivot, global head of JP Morgan’s depositary receipt business, said: “The indices are very new and they are highly investable. We were very careful to get the voice of the client in terms of shadowing what investors want to see and the sectors they want to benchmark.”

The indices include depositary receipts listed either on US exchanges or overseas. The companies have to meet specific minimum criteria for market cap, average trading volumes and minimum price.

Cardillo-Rivot said: “They are a great way for institutional investors to track performance and are likely to become new international benchmarks for equities as they strongly correlate to broader market indices.”

Standard & Poor’s will perform the real-time daily calculation for these indices and the bank expects to develop structured products, such as exchange-traded funds.

American depositary receipts allow foreign companies to raise capital in the US in dollar-denominated securities that represent ownership of shares in a foreign company but trade, clear and settle as a domestic stock. Global depositary receipts are usually listed on a European stock exchange and clear through European settlement systems.

Since the first ADR 80 years ago, more than 1,800 companies from more than 75 countries have sponsored 2,200 depositary receipt programs.